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Tipping the Garbage Men?

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No I have never tipped them. They usually get cookies or something.
 
That list is rather long. . .I cannot imagine handing out cash to every person who does any service for me. I've never even seen the person who picks up my garbage and have only seen my postal carrier once in the seven months I've lived here. It's weird to give each of them $10-20! Am I suppose to tape an envelope of cash to the garbage lid?

Last year I did tip the newspaper guy out of feeling obligated. He attached a card to our paper including his HOME address written inside basically hinting that we were to send him a card with a tip. We had the money to do so at the time and I gave him $20. Thinking back, it seems rude for him to presume we would give him $. When our bill comes every three months, I normally include a tip there. . .
 
We tip our mail carrier by leaving a card with cash in the box.

We, unfortunately, do not have garbage collection, even though our town taxes are sky high. So, no tipping there, although when I used to live in a city with trash collection, it never occured to me to tip the collectors.
 
Date: 12/4/2008 3:03:55 PM
Author: MC
That list is rather long. . .I cannot imagine handing out cash to every person who does any service for me. I''ve never even seen the person who picks up my garbage and have only seen my postal carrier once in the seven months I''ve lived here. It''s weird to give each of them $10-20! Am I suppose to tape an envelope of cash to the garbage lid?

Last year I did tip the newspaper guy out of feeling obligated. He attached a card to our paper including his HOME address written inside basically hinting that we were to send him a card with a tip. We had the money to do so at the time and I gave him $20. Thinking back, it seems rude for him to presume we would give him $. When our bill comes every three months, I normally include a tip there. . .
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I agree with you completely. I have only seen my mail person a few times a year and never have I seen my garbage collectors. That doesn''t stop them from taping an envelope to my can lid in December to give me the "hint" that it''s time for a holiday tip.
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My MIL gives a box of Fannie May candy to everyone she comes in contact with. I just don''t get it though. Yes, those people are in service for us, but they get paid. I think it''s like saying you owe the cashier at the grocery store a tip because he/she has also given you a service. And, for that matter, I see the cashier a heck of a lot more than I see a hairdresser!

And, in all honesty, my postman and sanitation crew get paid a heckuvalot more than I do!
 
Growing up we never tipped the garbage man but in the summer gave him a cold can of pop on hot days. (we have a dumpster now and he comes around 5am so we never see him now)
The mail lady would leave a note and the money behind asking that it be donated to charity if left a tip.
So we would leave a note telling her which charity we donated to for her.
 
I don''t get a tip at my job and nowadays most people don''t even get an office Christmas party (it could only be a holiday party anyway). I don''t agree with feeling like in order to get the job done you need to tip.
 
Date: 12/4/2008 5:22:04 PM
Author: somethingshiny
My MIL gives a box of Fannie May candy to everyone she comes in contact with. I just don''t get it though. Yes, those people are in service for us, but they get paid. I think it''s like saying you owe the cashier at the grocery store a tip because he/she has also given you a service. And, for that matter, I see the cashier a heck of a lot more than I see a hairdresser!

And, in all honesty, my postman and sanitation crew get paid a heckuvalot more than I do!
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Somethingshiny - you pretty much summed up exactly what I was thinking when I read this.

This is why I posted the article. I''ve just never heard of tipping them. Granted I''m kind of oblivious, so I wanted to hear other''s thoughts on the subject. I don''t want to be rude or stingy, but I just don''t see why I''m obligated to tip them.
 
We have never tipped the postman/woman as it seems to be a different person every day.

We''ve never tipped the garbage collectors either, but do leave out cold drinks in the summer.

When our local paper was delivered by kids who also collected the money for it once a month, we gave each $10. in a Christmas card. Now, both local papers are delivered by a service and left at the end of the driveway. There is no longer a charge for them either.

I tip my hairdresser and shampoo girl $4/ week; I also give the stylist $50. at Christmas.

The cleaning lady gets $75 at Christmas, but no tip when she cleans every other week. Instead, we take her out to lunch with us a few times a year.

The only other tips we give are 20% on a restaurant bill, and $50 to our favourite lady chef at Christmas.
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We''ve never tipped these people. We did give small Christmas gifts to our mail lady a while back before we moved. She was really nice and would stay and chat a bit in the yard. I remmeber one year it was some sort of a postal themed ornament.

I still get a bit upset when the coffe shops or sub shops have a tip spot on the reciept though.
 
I don''t tip because I feel obligated; I tip because I want to. It is my pleasure. To me it is similar to holding the door open when someone else is about to walk through. I don''t have to but I want to. I make sure to tip those mentioned above or do something nice. It is not just the money amount or value of the gift, it is the fact that you took your time to show appreciation that will really be lasting.

My Dad set a great example of being a great tipper and kind to everyone. He is so nice to deal with to all the people that provide service to him that when my parents had a horrible plumbing emergency on a Christmas day the plumber came right out happily, surely knowing he would get an awesome tip and be treated with great respect. My Dad also set a great example of when he gets great service at a restaurant or something he pulls aside the servers manager and tells them what exceptional service he got. I am not as well to do as my parents by any means but I follow his example and stuff like that totally makes people''s day. And that in turn really makes my day.

When my husband was a teenager he worked as a cook in a restaurant. One year he had to work late on New Year''s Eve. That night one of the customers who came in generously sent back money to tip the entire kitchen and dishwashing staff, about $20 dollars a piece. The kitchen staff does a job whose work is visible even though they themselves are mostly invisible. That unexpected generosity made their night. To this day he looks fondly back on it.

Times are so tough right now and a few extra bucks or gift certificate or something kind can make a world of difference.

This reminded me about a story on "This American Life" (I think that''s were I heard it) about the history of sanitation work and how it used to be held in higher regard by society than it is today.

I am very grateful for the people who do sanitation work. It looks like a very tough job. Same with mail and package delivery etc. I feel it is my honor to tip them.

Mrs.2Artists
 
Date: 12/4/2008 5:22:04 PM
Author: somethingshiny
My MIL gives a box of Fannie May candy to everyone she comes in contact with. I just don''t get it though. Yes, those people are in service for us, but they get paid. I think it''s like saying you owe the cashier at the grocery store a tip because he/she has also given you a service. And, for that matter, I see the cashier a heck of a lot more than I see a hairdresser!


And, in all honesty, my postman and sanitation crew get paid a heckuvalot more than I do!
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I agree. The tipping seems out of control.
 
I just added up the average amounts in that chart and they totaled $338. Seems like a lot of money to spend in addition to remembering your own family.

That said, I try to remember the garbage man, my hairdresser, etc. in an affordable way. However, lately I''ve been thinking they are lucky to have jobs. There are a lot of people out of work right now, trying to support themselves and a family. Isn''t the fact that I regularly give my hairdresser business good enough?

My heart''s tendency is to be generous, but then rationally I think tipping has gotten way out of control. Then I wonder what if I don''t tip? Will my hairdresser slip and accidentally cut too much? Hmm.

I still give the newspaper person, the garbage man, the mailman, my hairdresser, etc. a tip at Christmas because my heart tells me it''s the right thing to do, even if it''s only $5 that I can afford that year. It''s the thought that counts, right?
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I dont get it.....if we are helping to support these people by becoming their clients how come we arnt tipped at the end of the year for being great clients...
 
I agree it is the thought that counts as far as being appreciative and kind has the biggest impact. I'm not doing even close to $300-because I don't get the paper or have a a manicurist, cleaning person or many of the things on that list.

Mrs.2Artists
 
Is it even legal for the postman and garbage collector to "suggest" it is time for gratitude? Seriously, they get pay for doing the job.. and it is our tax money that gave them the job. Do I get better garbage collection if we tip? Will they leave a bag of garbage behind because we don''t tip? Do I get less mail service because I don''t tip? Maybe the postman will burn my junk mail for me if I tip better? The tip thing could just gets out of hand.

I agree with Storm that a cold drink in the summer or a cup of hot chocolate in the winter would pretty much shows our appreciation.
 
I just wanted to add something. I''m a great tipper at a restaurant, bar, etc. In fact, I''m the person who will (on occasion) leave a tip bigger than the bill. I always show respect to everyone and I take the time to smile and say kind words to nearly everybody. I do those things because I WANT to and I can see that it makes others happy, too. My son is already a smooth talker and I''m sure he gets it from watching DH and I in our every day life.

But, I don''t like being made obligated to give someone money. Maybe if I were rich it wouldn''t bug me so much. But, the thought of someone putting in their "request" when I''m trying to get my son and niece and nephews a good Christmas just seems disrespectful! Why on Earth would anyone presume that anyone else OWED them something?? I guess that''s the bottom line. I''ve never thought anyone owed me.
 
I am the odd one, we do give a special envelope to our garbage men. But then again, they have been our''s since the old house, we moved a block away.

I know my postman very well, we have great chats by our mail box, he''s a doll and will be retiring soon. He has always looked out for us, long story, but yes we give him a nice tip.

Everyone on my street does the same. I guess it''s the norm here. My parents always did this too.
 
I think this year we will tip our mail carrier. I always wave when I take a walk with DD but never really knew she knew me. Well one day she stopped to tell me she left a package at my door and wanted to make sure I saw it. I realized that a $25 GC (I feel funny about cash) was not much to me but I know will mean a lot to her. I know they get paid but it makes me feel good to brighten her day.

I used to wait tables and a few regulars would give me an extra tip around the holidays. Very generous and unexpected but it made me feel appreciated. DH and I don''t eat out much anymore but we always tip very generously. It is a tough job and they get treated so poorly (I know there were times I was). People don''t realize they make only $2 an hour and have to tip out a large % of their tips.

I think you should give holiday tips who you want not who you are suppose to. I agree the tip jars are insane. I do not tip in those.
 
The idea of this just seems so bizarre to me. Then again, in Australia, tipping doesn''t happen regularly in any service area, including restaurants. I believe this is because it is not expected, so the salaries of those employees reflects the fact that that money is all the money they will be taking home, whereas in America, it is expected and the salary reflects that.

In this situation it cannot be expected that garbage workers will be tipped, and therefore their salaries will reflect that. If the workers as a whole feel they deserve a christmas bonus, that should be something they take up with their employers, especially as the householders are paying rates which are applied to their salaries- ie we pay for the service already!
 
I tip/treat people who go out of their way for me, regardless of who they are. For example, our UPS man is wonderful. There have been multiple times where I have missed him and then called to have the package held and he swings back around to drop it off for me. He also never leaves packages unsigned for on the porch, he always finds a good hiding place for them. So because he goes out of his way for us, I like to give him a treat occasionally.

I also tip my hairstylist really well because he always does a meticulous job and will squeeze me in even when his schedule is full. He also always takes the time to make sure it's right. So he gets tipped well.

I always tip at least 15% at restaurants, but usually do 20%. I will admit that I don't like this, I think they should be paid fair wages to begin with, but I do it because it isn't fair to them that they are earning $2/hr base salary. And I will tip even more than that for exceptional service.

But I don't like being hinted at or told that I should tip. Our postman is not nice, I always see him and say hello and he basically grunts back at me, so he doesn't get a tip. Our garbagemen regularly dump out some of the trash when they are emptying the containers and don't clean it up, so they don't get tipped either.

I am VERY happy to tip when the service exceeds my expectations though.
 
I also understand that no one wants to feel shook down and forced to give at gun point. I have had people come door to door collecting for stuff get really angry when I told them sorry I was tapped out and already give regularly to (different carefully researched) organizations. Once someone collecting door to door for a political cause said "well we could take your credit card" . Ummm no.

Somethingshiny that is so adorable that your son is picking up your good habits. Sounds like he has some great examples to look up to.
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Mrs.2Artists
 
we always tip them, the mail carrier and garbage truck driver all get $50 and the garbage helpers get $20 each. The service is always fantastic during the year when you tip!
 
I have not tipped our garbage person as it seems to be someone different. I am friendly with a mailman and know his name and hubby knows his name too so I do give him a gift at Christmas as he is a very nice person.

I also get allergy shots every 2 weeks at an allergists so every year I give my doctor, the nurse and the receptionist a little gift; they are always so good to me so I give them a little thank you.

I have given my favorite aerobics instructor (awesome class at the gym) a little gift too in the past.
 
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